Irvine Meadow ground is pitch perfect

IT is one of the great ironies in football that Irvine Meadow, a club which prides itself in having probably the best playing surface in the Junior game, should find itself disadvantaged by having such a backlog of matches to play this season.

IT is one of the great ironies in football that Irvine Meadow, a club which prides itself in having probably the best playing surface in the Junior game, should find itself disadvantaged by having such a backlog of matches to play this season.

And it's not because of problems with Meadow Park.

Postponed league and cup away matches have left Chris Strain's side with less than half their league programme played and trailing league leaders Petershill by 13 points.

Sure Meadow have five games in hand, but Peasy have the points in the bag and face a much less demanding programme.

“One of the secrets of our success in recent years has been the work which goes into the park,” said Chris.

“Having such a terrific pitch has allowed us to keep the momentum going and pile the pressure on others, so it's ironic that this year we've had to sit it out because of problems with other clubs’ pitches while ours was in perfect nick.”

It takes a good team to win matches, and it also takes another good team to get them played and that's where Meadow groundsman Gus Hollas and his trusted sidekicks Ian, Billy and Martin Headley of family-run business Strathclyde Sportsturf Management come in.

Gus can be seen beavering away at Meadow Park almost every day of the week because, as he admits: “There's always something needing done.”But it's too big a task for one man and that's where SSM come in.

“In my eyes they're probably the biggest sponsor Meadow have had over the past three or four years,” added Gus.

“Heavy rainfall has been the problem all over Scotland this season and the only way to combat that is to make sure the pitch is properly aereated and drilled so water drains away and air gets into the soil to help it dry out.

“And after every home game Ian and some of his team are down at the park working away to repair the damage done during the 90 minutes and restoring the playing surface to tip-top condition.

“You can't imagine the work they've put into Meadow Park over the years and they've even helped out with the cost of some of the heavy machinery involved.

“Our pitch is the envy of every club in Scotland and it's all thanks to the efforts of Ian and his lads.”

But as well as the hard work and technical expertise of SSM it also costs a pretty penny to make sure the ground is in perfect condition.

“A lot of work also goes on during the close season and it doesn't come cheap,” added Gus.

“Sand can cost around £1600, hollow-coring the ground another £1500, seeding £1700, verti-draining £650 and labour another £2500,” he added.

“So as well as raising money to make sure everything's OK on the pitch, we have to find funds to make sure everything's OK with the pitch.

“It's a never-ending business but believe me, without the efforts of Ian and the rest of the SSM squad, we'd never have had such a magnificent playing surface and we're all truly grateful for everything they've done.”